Leaving no one behind and reaching the furthest behind first are key principles framing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Goal 3, “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”, illustrates the commitment of United Nations member states to realizing this principle in the health sector. Target 3.8, which aims to achieve universal health coverage, signals a departure from the preference for targeted interventions that characterized many health systems and drove reforms for more than three decades, and whose ad-hoc and reactive nature has proved insufficient, inefficient and unsustainable for dealing with complex health problems in the 21st century.

UNRISD Research and Policy Briefs aim to improve the quality of development dialogue. They situate the Institute’s research within wider social development debates, synthesize its findings and draw out issues for consideration in decision-making processes. They provide this information in a concise format that should be of use to policy makers, scholars, activists, journalists and others.